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Chang'e-2 came as close as miles from Toutatis and took pictures of the asteroid at a relative velocity of 10.73km per second, the SASTIND said in a statement.

Sources with the administration told the Xinhua news agency that Chang'e-2 is continuing its deep space travel and will reach a distance of more than six million miles away from Earth in January next year.

Chang'e-2 was launched on October 1, 2010, from Xichang Satellite Launch Center and later orbited the moon in a more ambitious mission than its predecessor Chang'e-1.

Chang'e-2 left its lunar orbit for an extended mission to the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrangian point on June 9, 2011, after finishing its lunar objectives, which collected data for a complete lunar map.

Here is a graphic showing the moment the spacecraft passed within two miles of the asteroid Toutatis

Chang'e-2 was launched on October 1, 2010, from Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Here is mission control

China claims it was the first to closely observe the asteroid Toutatis, although other space missions have pictured it

The probe departed from L2 this year and began its mission to Toutatis.

Since its blast-off, Chang'e 2 has become the first to capture full coverage map of the moon with a resolution of seven meters.

China claims it was also the first object ever to reach the L2 point directly from lunar orbit; and being the first to closely observe the asteroid Toutatis.

China early this year published a full coverage map of the moon, as well as several high-resolution images of the celestial body, captured by Chang'e-2. The resolution of the images is 17 times greater than those taken by Chang'e-1.

Chang'e-2's extended missions, which were conducted millions of miles away from Earth, have tested China's spacecraft tracking and control network, including two newly built measuring and control stations in the northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and northeast Heilongjiang province, according to the SASTIND.

However, China still belongs to the second tier in lunar probe internationally, said Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist for China's lunar orbiter project, adding that the U.S. and Russia are still leading nations in this field.

Wu Weiren stressed the need for international cooperation in lunar probe mission, saying it is a shared responsibility of world scientists to work together in lunar and deep space exploration for the common good of the human race.